Barychelidae

Brushed-footed trap-door spiders Temporal range: Neogene–present PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Sason robustum with nest
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Mygalomorphae
Clade:	Avicularioidea
Family:	Barychelidae Simon, 1889
Diversity
39 genera, 285 species

Barychelidae, also known as brushed trapdoor spiders, is a spider family with about 300 species in 39 genera.[1]

Behaviour

Most spiders in this family build trapdoor burrows. For example, the 20 millimetres (0.79 in) long Sipalolasma builds its burrow in rotted wood, with a hinged trapdoor at each end. The 10 millimetres (0.39 in) long Idioctis builds its burrow approximately 5 centimetres (2.0 in) deep, just below the high tide level, sealing the opening with a thin trapdoor.[2]

Some species avoid flooding by plugging their burrows, while others can avoid drowning by trapping air bubbles within the hairs covering their bodies.[3]^[example needed] Some members of this group have a rake on the front surface of their chelicerae used for compacting burrow walls.[4] These spiders can run up glass like tarantulas, and some can stridulate, though it isn't audible to humans.[5]

Distribution

Barychelids are found in Australia, New Caledonia, South America, Africa, Madagascar, India, New Guinea, and Pacific islands.[1]

Genera

Main article: List of Barychelidae species

As of November 2023^[update], the World Spider Catalog accepts the following genera:[1]

• Adelonychia Walsh, 1890 – India
• Ammonius Thorell, 1899 — Cameroon
• Atrophothele Pocock, 1903 — Yemen
• Aurecocrypta Raven, 1994 — Australia
• Barycheloides Raven, 1994 — New Caledonia
• Barychelus Simon, 1889 — New Caledonia
• Cosmopelma Simon, 1889 — Brazil
• Cyphonisia Simon, 1889 — Africa
• Encyocrypta Simon, 1889 — New Caledonia
• Eubrachycercus Pocock, 1897 — Somalia
• Fijocrypta Raven, 1994 — Fiji
• Idioctis L. Koch, 1874 — Oceania, Africa, Singapore
• Idiommata Ausserer, 1871 — Australia
• Idiophthalma O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1877 — South America
• Mandjelia Raven, 1994 — Australia
• Monodontium Kulczyński, 1908 — Singapore, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia
• Moruga Raven, 1994 — Australia
• Natgeogia Raven, 1994 — New Caledonia
• Neodiplothele Mello-Leitão, 1917 — Brazil
• Nihoa Raven & Churchill, 1992 — Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu
• Orstom Raven, 1994 — New Caledonia
• Ozicrypta Raven, 1994 — Australia
• Paracenobiopelma Feio, 1952 — Brazil
• Pisenor Simon, 1889 — Africa
• Plagiobothrus Karsch, 1892 — Sri Lanka
• Questocrypta Raven, 1994 — New Caledonia
• Rhianodes Raven, 1985 — Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines
• Sason Simon, 1887 — Asia, Oceania, Seychelles
• Sasonichus Pocock, 1900 — India
• Seqocrypta Raven, 1994 — Australia
• Sipalolasma Simon, 1892 — Asia, Africa
• Strophaeus Ausserer, 1875 — Brazil, Peru, Panama
• Synothele Simon, 1908 — Australia
• Tigidia Simon, 1892 — Madagascar, Mauritius
• Trittame L. Koch, 1874 — Australia
• Troglothele Fage, 1929 — Cuba
• Tungari Raven, 1994 — Australia
• Zophorame Raven, 1990 — Australia
• Zophoryctes Simon, 1902 — Madagascar
• †Megamonodontium McCurry, Frese & Raven, 2023

References

1. "Family: Barychelidae Simon, 1889". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. Retrieved 2019-04-19.
2. Murphy, Frances; Murphy, John (2000). An Introduction to the Spiders of South East Asia. Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Nature Society.
3. Bristowe, W.S. (September 1930). "XXXIV.— Notes on the biology of spiders .—II. Aquatic spiders". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 6 (33): 343–347. doi:10.1080/00222933008673222. ISSN 0374-5481.
4. Levi, Herbert W.; Levi, Lorna R. Spiders and Their Kin. p. 20.
5. Raven, R.J. (1994). "Mygalomorph spiders of the Barychelidae in Australia and the Western Pacific". Memoirs of the Queensland Museum. 35 (2): 291–706.

• Raven, R.J. (1986): A revision of the spider genus Sason Simon (Sasoninae, Barychelidae, Mygalomorphae) and its historical biogeography. Journal of Arachnology 14: 47–70. PDF Archived 2018-10-01 at the Wayback Machine
• Valerio, CE. (1986): Mygalomorph spiders in the Barychelidae (Araneae) from Costa Rica. J. Arachnol. 14: 93–99. PDF Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine (Psalistops venadensis, Trichopelma laselva)
• Schwendinger, P.J. (2003): Two new species of the arboreal trapdoor spider genus Sason (Araneae, Barychelidae) from Southeast Asia. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 51(2): 197–207. PDF Archived 2011-09-27 at the Wayback Machine (S. sundaicum, S. andamanicum)

External links

• Brush-footed trap-door spiders